Belfast woman charged with child endangerment after allegedly failing to care for 4-year-old

BELFAST, Maine — A Belfast woman was charged with endangering the welfare of a child last weekend after police received two separate reports that a 4-year-old girl was not being looked after.

Kathleen A. Winslow, 27, reportedly was spotted Friday evening at the edge of Penobscot Bay on the east side of Belfast by a traveling nurse, who called police to report that the child was in the water and Winslow seemed “out of it,” according to Detective Sgt. Bryan Cunningham of the Belfast Police Department.

Police went to the scene and arranged for one of Winslow’s friends to take her home. But a little later that same evening, the friend called police to say that Winslow was asleep and couldn’t be roused, and that the girl was playing unsupervised in front of the house.

This time, officers had Winslow taken to the hospital for treatment, Cunningham said, and issued her a criminal summons. They also contacted her family members and the Maine Department of Health and Human Services to help care for the child.